The 218-room hotel kitty-corner from Millennium Park doesn’t have any suites, bathtubs, spa, meeting space or multiple food and beverage outlets — the kind of features traditionally found in lodging on the highest end of the spectrum.

“We’re a modern luxury hotel with an emphasis on service and technology,” Grajdura said about the $75-plus million project.

Occupying the white terra cotta-clad shell of the former Atlantic Bank Building, the Julian is a mashup of old and new, an “original remix,” as staff like to call it.

The 12-story structure built in 1912 was designed by noted Chicago architect Benjamin Marshall, the same man behind the Drake and Blackstone hotels. His dapper visage graces a mural in the Julian’s restaurant and lounge, on a wall made up of original brick.

Marshall’s plan called for making the high-rise a few stories taller — a wish granted more than a century later, when hotel developers topped it off with a five-story, pleated glass addition designed by Chicago’s Hirsch Associates.

These newly built rooms on the Michigan Avenue side of the building feature floor-to-ceiling windows; they’re priced at about a $40 premium.

The hotel’s overnight rates hover between $200 and $300 in October. That price could dip down to $99 in January and February, “when Chicago hotels are giving rooms away,” Grajdura said. Come June, that same room can shoot up to $600 or $700, he added.

Like a lot of downtown hotels, especially those with older bones, the Julian’s guest rooms are on the snug side. Designers made the most of the cozy confines. Drawers pull out from the base of the bed for storage. A spartan desk juts out of the wall, giving guests “enough room for a computer and a glass of wine, because that’s really all you need,” Grajdura said. The bathroom is tucked behind a space-saving barn door.

Each room has an espresso machine as well as a window that can be cracked open to let in the sounds of the city and a bit of fresh air.

The in-room technology is “smart,” from 55-inch flat-screen TVs where guests can stream their own movies to motion-sensing thermostats and mini-fridges, whose temperatures can be adjusted to quickly chill a bottle of a wine or store leftovers. Wi-Fi is free. Guests can reach hotel staff via text message to order room service.

The hotel’s ground floor — a high-ceilinged space filled with a mix of warm wood, modern furniture and light gray hues — shares its footprint with the lobby, restaurant, a bar and a lounge. Starting next spring, the lounge will spill out onto Michigan Avenue, courtesy of the facade’s accordion-like glass doors that open onto sidewalk seating.

The Julian has two entrances: one on busy Michigan Avenue and a lesser-trafficked one to the west, on Garland Court, where guests can valet for $72 a night.

If your 2019 resolution list included building or mending bridges, these photos will have you adding "cross bridges" to that list. Travel company Orbitz ranked the most Instagrammable bridges in the nation based on how many times they were hashtagged. We've pulled out a few closer to home. Bridge aficionados rejoice — these are the most visually stunning bridges in the Midwest.